Stella Polaris
by Salmiakkirae
Summary: The year is 1944. The secret cargo changes its owner and Finland meets Sweden during the secret mission.
1. Stella Polaris

_September, 1944_

The sun began to descend below the horizon.

The evening was warm, but people stayed inside - which was a wise thing to do. The war had just ended for Finland, but it was still dangerous to move outside during the dark. Crime increased dramatically during these years; Robberies, beatings, you could easily just disappear, and nobody could do a thing because you would not be the only one gone missing.

But if you were for some reason near Nämpnäs this evening, you could see something unusual at the port of Österfjärd. Hundreds of serious-looking people - men, women, and children - boarded the ship. And among them was a fair-haired youngster who seemed to lead them all. He was not the leader of the country, not even a high ranked military person, he was the country. Tino Väinämöinen to those who felt uncomfortable to call a person as "Finland" or to those who didn't know what he was.

"Are we on schedule?", Finland asked from one of the leaders of the transportation. The nation looked more nervous than usual and glanced around.

"Yes, S/S Maininki will leave soon, and S/S Osmo and S/S Georg couple days later. S/S Lokki will began its journey at the same time as them from Uusikaupunki and there are also Estonian refugees aboard. Mr. Oxenstierna confirmed he will meet us near the Swedish border. It seems a storm is rising, but it shouldn't slow us down", the man answered with more confidence in his voice.

A small smile appeared on Finland's face as he nodded. Berward Oxenstierna a.k.a Sweden, or just Sve like he liked to call the man. This was their secret little plan. Finland would transfer all the information he had collected during the wars to Sve. There was stuff that some countries would probably be very eager to get their hands on - stuff about many countries, not just about Russia. That's why his intelligence officers and their families will be moved to Sweden as well. Families, because they could be easily used as hostages to get the information.

Or just to be killed, they may know too much, Finland thought in his mind.

He had signed an armistice with Russia and England not so long ago. Well, in fact he had signed it also with some other members of the Soviet Union, Britain, Australia, South African Union, India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, New Zealand, and Belarus. Those were the ones he had been at war with, but he hadn't seen them much during the war. No, they didn't make him worried. He was worried about Russia, he didn't believe in anything he said, didn't believe this peace will last if he's not cautious, and wanted to prepare for the worst. Somebody could call him paranoid.

This was one part of his own secret little war. He was preparing for a guerrilla warfare.

The ship left the port quietly as the rain started to pour down. Finland tried to look down to the waves, but it was too dark. He hoped nobody saw them, that the darkness hid them too. The Allies will send their control commission here tomorrow to make sure he was a good boy, and they will be mostly Russians. If they would learn about this, it would not only endanger his safety, but also Sweden's neutrality. And then they would get the cargo to themself. But there are limitations what about 200 people can do.

So, he had made sure they believed he was on the battlefield, fighting against the Germans who were still here. According to the peace treaty, he needed to get rid of his ex-allies. If somebody from the comission tries to contact him, his people will just tell them he's somewhere in the woods along with his soldiers. And if he's lucky they won't even miss him. But he hadn't been very lucky lately...

He wasn't worried about the war with Germany. He had got them to agree to retreat voluntarily. Soldiers from the both countries only pretended to shoot towards each other. But he didn't know how long they could continue like this. If somebody finds this out, Russia or Germany's boss... He had even asked from the Allies, if he could just disarm and keep them. But no, you really can't keep 200 000 Germans.

Right now he only wanted to see Sweden. And at the same time was afraid to see him. They had been quite distant these years, and he was afraid it will be like this permanently. But Sweden had agreed to join to this operation after he had told about it to him. Maybe he wanted to see him after all? They didn't have any personal grudges, but Finland wasn't good company if you wanted to stay out of trouble.

He scanned the horizon. They were almost there, soon they should see Sweden's ship. This whole operation was quite risky because the war was still going on elsewhere. They needed to be sure it's Sweden's ship and not someone's else.

"There!", someone shouted couple minutes after Finland had already turned away.

Finland looked at the sea again and narrowed his eyes. Yes, there was clearly something. And after the mysterious figure came closer, nobody could have mistaken it for anything else but a ship - it was huge and brand new. But was it Sweden's, that was the question nobody had time to think after bright spotlights from the ship lit up their own vessel and blinded them for a moment. Finland tried to open his eyes, but it hurt too much.

"Do you know the password?", somebody shouted the question from the foreign ship. In Swedish. This made Finland sigh from relief and then he said the answers to them with a firm voice:

"Stella Polaris"

It was the name of this operation. Stella Polaris, commonly Northern Star - a bright star that guides the ones who are lost. There was a good reason why Finland had chosen that name.

"Right", the spotlights were turned off, and soon after the passengers from the Finnish ship prepared to change the vessel. Finland was the first one to do so. He had no intention to travel with them to Sweden's place, he couldn't escape and didn't even want to do so, but he wanted to talk to Sweden. Maybe this was the last time he was able to see him...

They had said he will be here too, so he looked around. Everywhere the Swedish crew was busy helping people to aboard and carry the boxes full of secrets. Only one of them stood silently still and soon their eyes met.

"Sve", Finland almost whispered. He took one step forward, but stopped then. What should he say to him?

Sweden's face looked as hard as it always did, and he seemed to be uncertain what he should do too. For a moment Sweden just looked down, sighed, and then looked again at Finland.

"How are y' doing?", he finally said and Finland was almost sure he saw a small sad smile on his face.

"Horribly, just horribly. But you just made me feel a little bit better", Finland said and then continued happily, "Do you want to see what I brought to you? There are people out there who would be ready to kill you brutally to get those boxes". Sweden followed Finland's gaze to one of those boxes that had been already transferred to the deck. They didn't look very valuable.

"I'll tell to the b'rder guards that th'y contain medicines", Sweden said and then crouched down next to Finland as the other tried to open one of the boxes. Finland startled a bit when Sweden came so close, so suddenly, but managed to continue his work. "See, there are equipment, techniques, codes and documents. Various information about America, Russia, France and many others. I've read America's messages from the very beginning", Finland showed the papers to Sweden.

"Does he kn'w about th's?

"America? Yes, I told him I can read his messages about a year ago. Because I could read them, Germany was surely able to do the same. I was afraid Germany will find out what I was talking with America from America's own telegrams. About a separate peace with Russia, so... This is quite complicated you know... everybody tries to spy each other, they spied me too", Finland started to look embarrassed. He was babbling to Sweden again, just like in the old days, even if he had decided to stay more formal. He didn't want Sweden to get involved in this more than was necessary. Sweden's goverment had stated clearly, that he should make sure he doesn't endanger Sweden's good relations with Russia.

And it looked like Sweden wanted this to stay formal too. He hadn't even hugged him like he usually did when they met.

Sweden nodded. He knew everything about the matter - little too well. And Finland was selling these to him, because he was sure Russia will try something and he was preparing to fight if necessary. He didn't want all the material end to Russia. Sweden looked at the other nation, who looked tired and maybe a little bit older than he remembered. There he was, and he could just easily pull him into a close embrace, but he didn't do so. He didn't know how Finland would react. It looked like he wanted this to stay formal.

"H'w many people came w'th y'?", Sweden wondered when he looked around. "I thought y' meant about twenty people wh'n you said you'll move your intelligence officers to my place".

"Oh, over 700. They don't have any documents with them nor visas. Is that a problem?"

Sweden just stared at him for a moment. "No", he said finally. He was Sweden, he could bent some rules. He didn't like to do so, but sometimes it was necessary for them. But Finland never mentioned about this beforehand. Large numbers of people could draw some unwanted attention. He would hear about this from his superiors, that's sure.

Finland smiled. He didn't dare to say what would happend if he really needed to start a guerrilla war. How many people would then try to cross his borders without visas. Even the though made Finland feel uneasy. He stood up and prepared to leave back to his ship. Sweden stood up as well and put his hand on Finland's shoulder.

"Maybe... maybe y' could stay for a little l'nger? Eat s'mething?"

"No, it would be even harder to go back"

"Is th're any reason why y' are preparing to fight again?"

"Not really. People from the comission aren't nice to me, I was on their enemy's side so that's understandable, but I can't say they are really mean either. Can you believe, my Communists are going give them flowers! I hope they'll not think those are from me." Finland chuckled nervously and then continued "But all this preparing is only because of my former experiences... what I heard from Estonia... and because I'm able to read their messages".

And then he was gone.

...

Some time after the operation - the Stella Polaris affair, as Sweden called it - Sweden was back in Stockholm. The city was buzzing with spies, probably from every country. A neutral territory was the perfect place for them to exchange secret information.

The stellists, as they called themselves, were placed in a temporary refugee camp which was located in Gävle. Not all of them, but quite many anyway. The Swedish doctors there were excited because now they had a great change to study adult symptoms of scurvy. Sweden hoped it wasn't as bad as it sounded like. They wanted them to eat oranges, so maybe they will be just fine.

Sweden's people, on the other hand, were not as excited about them. Some of them thought the surprise refugees were rather suspicious.

But Sweden was not alone this early morning. There was somebody else with him and Finland's two intelligence officers, an another nation. They were discussing. At least one of them was talking. You could hear the enthusiasm in his voice:

"You know, you could sell copies of those papers to me. OK, it's a bit sly to buy information about your own allies, and I have no permission to do this, but I'm sure they wouldn't want to keep any secrets from me anyway. You two have sold some of those papers already to some other nations. If I want to be the hero, it's a good think to stay one step ahead, right?"

And outside, the sun began to rise.


	2. A Can Filled with Worms

_Couple years later - 1946  
><em>

Sweden's ship arrived to the port in Helsinki. He had finally a chance to meet Finland. The other had been in a travel ban for a while, but now traveling was allowed again. And luckily, this time they didn't need to meet in secret.

He decided to look around as he waited for Finland to arrive - he had thought the city would look much worse, but apparently repairers did a good job. True, Helsingfors wasn't very familiar to him, it had been only a small town when he had lost it, but something about it made him feel very nostalgic.

"Moi! Sve!"

A sudden voice made him turn around. Of course he had recognized the voice immediately - he had listened it over 600 years. This time he grabbed him in hug.

"It's nice to see you too! But remember we have been watched", Finland tried to mumble. Flower-Egg, their dog, run around them and barked happily.

"Hm?", Sweden didn't care, but wondered what Finland had meant.

"People from the comission. They're following me around... And I think they know about the Stella Polaris. If it is so, you're on their 'must be watched' list.

"Th'y know... I get angry lett'rs fr'm Russia", Sweden confirmed. His goverment got grey hairs about the Stellists, even if they worked for him now. Some had moved to France, but some had stayed. They were mostly interested in Finland's safety, even though his goverment had warned them that they had no permission to do anything if Finland really gets in trouble.

"Not good. They even found out that my people had hidden weapons and equipment here and there. One of the hiders revealed the plot to them after he had stolen some food from one the caches. He was caught for theft and then he threatened to reveal everything if we don't pay money to him. And, well, you know what happened. But they'll never find all the caches", Finland grinned.

"Y' are still prep'ring for a guerrilla warfare?"

"Of course. The threat of a war is now a little bit lesser than it used to be, but I'm afraid of a coup d'etat...", Finland looked worried and then continued, "Do you see that hotel, the one called Torni? The comission lives there. People usually go a long way round it, like if it was surrounded by a wall of glass. But my Communists visit there almost every day. What are they doing there, that's the question. I know what they would _like_ to do, after all, I was the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic during my Civil war. Only partially, but still. Their party is too small to do much anything, but if they get some help... and they control my state police nowadays"

Sweden didn't have the answer. For a moment they just stared the hotel.

"Let's go. They'll get nervous if we just stand here", Finland chuckled, "They probably think we're planning to attack into the building. The Red Knights of the Tower* see everywhere, even when they keep all the curtains closed. They leave from the building only in groups, and when they go to eat people always gather to watch them. The bravest even try to touch their jackets. They're just curious, but I don't know what the comission think about it"

"Y' are not listening their ph'nes or reading tel'grams?", Sweden almost smiled when he asked this.

"I used to, but now they have improved their security. And I think the operation Stella Polaris is already over anyway. Everybody knows at least something about it. I have to come up with something else" Finland was quiet for a moment and then continued.

"Ah, you know, I'll need to go with the comission to France's place soon. Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Italy brothers will be dragged there too. I'll not bother you by explaining what we need to do there, but... Have you..."

"Hm?"

"Have you noticed? The atmosphere among the Allies is really tense nowadays. Or is it just my imagination? I hope it won't become worse... I would really like to know they're doing right now"

"Hm", Sweden nodded.

...

Someone cursed out loud.

The war was finally over, the Allies had won. He should be relieved. He was relieved, who wouldn't be? Well, maybe those who were on the lost side.

The young man pondered as he was lying on a couch. He hoped his boss wouldn't enter the room right now - he would only tell him to do something useful, like he hadn't worked like crazy during the recent years, and there were still a lot of things to do. He needed rest too! And there were things that bothered him - bothered more than these crumps on the coach. Did his boss eat snacks secretly in the White house? Ah, never mind.

The Finnish material he had bought couple years ago bothered him. He was supposed to buy only material that had something to do with Germany, but instead he had bought everything they had to offer. He had wanted everything.

His State Department found this out and they were furious. His boss pretended he didn't know anything about the matter and he got all the blame. And then he had needed to go to Russia's place to apologize! He still remembers that day clearly:

"_Where did you get these?", Russia asked clear horror in his eyes. Soon his expression changed from shock into rage. Just like that. If he had been any other nation, this would have been the right time to run. Fast and far.  
><em>

_"Does it matter? I was supposed to buy a completely different material, but I accidentally got also papers about you, and I'm so sorry about it. I came here to prove you can trust me" _

_"Nosy Barbara's nose was torn off at the market, America"_

_"W-what?"_

_"Ah, never mind. Apology accepted", Russia continued sweetly as nothing had happened._

This was the last time they took the matter up. Of course he had returned only some of the material, not all of it.

What bothered him now was the fact that he had found out that France and England had a secret spying co-operation going on. They had hired some of the Finnish Stellists to work for them, but they hadn't tell anything about this to him! And he had though that he was the only one to who England gave secret information. And those Finnish Stellists, they had sold secret information to everybody who had had enough money, even to Japan. Luckily, they had promised not to sell stuff about him - he had never declared war against them, that was the reason. They were clearly collecting money for something. But that was not his problem.

Russia hadn't been honest to him either, and who knows about China. In fact, there were so much secretive stuff and lying America had started to call the whole operation Stella Polaris as the operation "a-can-filled-with-worms".

He would so show his irritation to the others, but then he would need to admit he had also spied them... Well, Russia already knew he had bought papers about him, but it had been a mistake to tell him. In fact, their relations had become worse lately. They couldn't agree on anything anymore.

Maybe he should start to spy him more actively too. Who knows what he's up to.

...

Russia sat behind a desk in his house. He was slowly starting to recover from the horrors of the war. Not that he showed anybody he had gotten hurt pretty bad. Hyenas would only smell the blood if he showed any weakness. Little hyenas and big hyenas.

The good thing was that at least some of the hyenas were now caged. The bad thing was that some of them were still on the loose.

He stared the papers on his desk. Very secret information about him, why America had returned these? Because they are allies? America was young, but Russia refused to believe he was still that naive. No, he had propably returned these to make clear to him that he knew something that he shouldn't know.

His apology had sounded very sincere, America seemed to be better in this game than he had excepted. And he was clearly scheming something. Like Russia's boss said, those capitalists would tear him to pieces if given a change.

Of course Russia had known already earlier that there's a leak somewhere. His spies had infiltrated into England's and France's secret services already years ago. They couldn't go even to toilet without him knowing it - not that he wanted that kind of information. So, when the two had bought the Stella Polaris material, he had known about the leak at the same second.

He also knew, that France and England had started to spy him more intensively, especially France. England had spied him already earlier. But now some of those Stellists worked for them.

The Stellists, they were from Finland. And Sweden had something to do with them as well, what a surprise. He had already started to pressure Sweden, England, and France to give those intelligence officers to him. Finland would hear about this too, but not right now. He needed those war reparations from him. He didn't really want to disrupt the delivery by causing him a heart attack.

But if Sweden and Finland though they were free from his spies, they were wrong. He had collected a lot of the so called Stella Polaris material by now. From America, England, France and Sweden. Ha ha ha~.

...

England and France sat next to each other. They had serious problems and they needed to solve what they should do next. They had hired some of those Finnish Stellists to work for them, to spy Russia. But now Russia knew about this. How, they couldn't understand.

"It's clearly your fault", England started, "You've been too soft to them and allowed them to write home and to Stockholm. There's clearly spies among them, Russia has infiltrated into the Stella Polaris, and now he demands us to give those officers to him! I wash my hands of this mess!"

"Are you suggesting we should give those people to him?", France asked indignantly.

"Why not? We know already everything the Stella Polaris has to offer to us"

"If he gets them, he gets to know everything they know about us. And they will be a living proof we have been spying him. It could be used as a propaganda against us", France almost yelled his answer to England.

England pondered this for a moment, "Then, the only answer is to give them a chance to move to Spain's place or countries in Latin America. They won't give them to anyone"

And for once, the two agreed with each other.

The operation Stella Polaris was officially over.

* * *

><p>Author's note: This was not supposed to continue, but then I decided to write some more anyway...<p>

* Tower = Torni in Finnish


End file.
